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Sportsmanship survives in Dodgers vs. Cardinals duels

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents on October 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A decade after the Cardinals and Dodgers were matched again in a National League Division Series, the result was familiar. So was the touch of class.

After the Cardinals eliminated the Dodgers from the 2004 National League Division Series, players and staff from both teams met on the field and shook hands.

After the Cardinals eliminated the Dodgers from the 2014 National League Division Series, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny tipped his cap to his opponent.

On Oct. 7, 2014, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 3-2, in Game 4 at St. Louis and advanced to the National League Championship Series. Boxscore As Matheny entered the field to congratulate his team, he turned toward the Dodgers’ dugout, doffed his cap and, in a gesture of respect, nodded in their direction. Check out the video clip.

Ten years earlier, on Oct. 10, 2004, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 5-2, in Game 4 at Los Angeles and advanced to the National League Championship Series. In an unscripted act of sportsmanship prompted by Cardinals outfielder Larry Walker and led by managers Jim Tracy of the Dodgers and Tony La Russa of St. Louis, the teams met near the third-base line and the Dodgers offered congratulations.

A surprised Matheny, then the Cardinals’ catcher, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch afterward, “I didn’t know what was going on. I thought we were going to brawl.”

Hockey lesson

Late in the regular season, after the Cardinals had clinched the 2004 Central Division crown, Walker suggested to La Russa that the Cardinals and their Division Series opponent shake hands on the field after the series finale. Walker, a Canadian, was impressed by how National Hockey League players formed a line on the ice after games and congratulated one another.

“Those guys (hockey players) go out and beat the daylights out of each other and then shake hands,” Walker said. “I think it’s a class thing.”

At the time Walker proposed his idea, the Cardinals didn’t know who they’d face in the first round of the postseason. “It sends a great message,” La Russa said of Walker’s suggestion. “But it depended on who we go up against. I know some managers better than others. But I know Jim Tracy really well.”

Before Game 1 of the Cardinals-Dodgers series, La Russa and Tracy discussed Walker’s idea, but neither mentioned it again.

Impromptu gesture

After the Cardinals’ clinching victory in Game 4, La Russa, like Matheny in 2014, went onto the field and turned toward the Dodgers’ dugout. He waved to Tracy. Then, La Russa made a handshake motion.

Tracy got the message.

He led the Dodgers onto the field.

“It was a class act,” said Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. “Tracy led the way.”

Said an appreciative La Russa: “I know it had to be much more difficult for them to come out of the dugout and meet us halfway. It was impressive.” Boxscore

Walker, who had joined the Cardinals two months earlier in a trade with the Rockies, was delighted.

“This is something I’ve thought about for a long time,” Walker said. “You can laugh at it, but I think it’s something that can be done. It can’t hurt.”

Previously: Mike Matheny sparked Cardinals over Dodgers in 2004 NLDS

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How Alvin Dark lost in Russian roulette against Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Opponents on August 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

(Updated Dec. 30, 2020)

A risky decision by Giants manager Alvin Dark backfired and helped the 1964 Cardinals rally for a key victory, keeping alive their longshot pennant hopes. In retrospect, the Cardinals might not have won the National League pennant and advanced to a World Series title if Dark hadn’t made his controversial move.

On Aug. 21, 1964, the Giants had a 5-3 lead against the Cardinals with two outs in the ninth when Dark ordered an intentional walk to Bill White, putting the potential tying run on base. The Cardinals took advantage, scoring three runs and winning, 6-5.

Contenders or pretenders?

As the Cardinals opened a three-game series at San Francisco, the Giants were 7.5 games behind the first-place Phillies and St. Louis was 10 back.

A win in the series opener was essential for the Cardinals to keep alive their slim pennant hopes.

The Giants, though, scored five runs in the first three innings against Curt Simmons and Bob Humphreys.

Jim Duffalo, with an ERA of 1.71, relieved starter Bob Hendley with one out in the sixth and held the Cardinals scoreless for 2.2 innings. He entered the ninth with the 5-3 lead.

Lou Brock led off with a single to left. Dick Groat grounded out, with Brock moving to second. Ken Boyer also grounded out, with Brock staying put.

Dark and White

White, a left-handed batter, was up next. He was hitless in the game, but he had hit a couple of foul balls over the right-field fence.

On four previous occasions that season, Dark had put the potential winning run on base intentionally. Each time, the Giants won.

Concerned about White’s power and preferring Duffalo face a right-handed batter, Dark ordered an intentional walk to White, putting runners on second and first.

In his book “When in Doubt, Fire the Manager,” Dark said, “You can do everything by the book day after day, but there’ll come a time when you feel a need to try something unorthodox, and if it fails you’re sure to be criticized … Never put the winning run on base? I’ve done it when I thought the batter was a greater threat to beat us than the man on deck.”

The next batter was light-hitting Dal Maxvill, making his seventh at-bat of the season. Cardinals manager Johnny Keane told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he let Maxvill go to the plate because “we didn’t have any more pinch-hitters.”

When the count on Maxvill got to 2-and-2, fans “turned toward the exits,” believing the game was about to end, according to the Post-Dispatch.

Maxvill hit a soft liner off the end of his bat to left for a single, scoring Brock and reducing the Giants lead to 5-4. White advanced to second.

Mike Shannon followed with a ground ball _ a scraggly dribbler, the San Francisco Examiner called it _ that rolled into short center. As second baseman Hal Lanier scooped up the ball, White rounded third and steamed toward home.

Lanier hurried an off-balance throw toward the plate, but the ball went up the third-base line and eluded catcher Tom Haller as White, unchallenged, scored the tying run.

Duffalo, backing up the play, couldn’t field the errant throw. As the ball bounced away from him and toward the wall, Maxvill, who never stopped running, scored, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead.

“I made a bad play,” Lanier said. “I threw before I was set.

“I should have planted myself and then thrown,” he told the Examiner.

The intentional walk had opened the door to a pair of singles and an error, resulting in three runs.

Dark lifted Duffalo for Billy Pierce, who got Jerry Buchek to fly out to center.

Save for Schultz

The Giants, though, still had a chance.

Keane brought in knuckleball specialist Barney Schultz to face a formidable trio of Harvey Kuenn, one-time American League batting champion, and future Hall of Famers Duke Snider and Willie Mays.

Schultz, 38, who had been called up from the minor leagues three weeks earlier, was up to the challenge. Kuenn and Snider grounded out; Mays popped out.

The Associated Press wrote, “Al Dark pulled the trigger once too often in his gambling game of Russian roulette.”

Undaunted, Dark, a former Cardinals shortstop, shrugged and said, “You gotta lose some.” Boxscore

The Cardinals went on to win the pennant, finishing a game ahead of both the Reds and Phillies.

The Giants finished fourth, three behind the Cardinals. After the season, Dark was fired and replaced by Herman Franks.

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10 Hall of Fame managers and their Cardinals connections

Posted in Games, Managers on July 25, 2014| 2 Comments »

Tony La Russa and Joe Torre bring to 10 the number of managers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame who either played for or managed the Cardinals. Three of those 10 did both.

La Russa and Torre were inducted into the Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine on July 27, 2014.

The 10 Hall of Fame managers who either played for or managed the Cardinals are, in alphabetical order: Walter Alston, Leo Durocher, Whitey Herzog, Miller Huggins, Tony La Russa, John McGraw, Bill McKechnie, Wilbert Robinson, Billy Southworth and Joe Torre.

Huggins, Southworth and Torre are the three Hall of Fame managers who both played for and managed the Cardinals.

Several other Hall of Famers _ such as Roger Bresnahan, Frankie Frisch, Rogers Hornsby and Red Schoendienst, to name a few _ managed the Cardinals, but were inducted at Cooperstown because of their stellar playing careers, not for managing.

Another Hall of Fame manager, Sparky Anderson, managed Cardinals farm teams, but didn’t manage the Cardinals and didn’t play for them.

Here is a look at the 10 Hall of Fame managers who either played for or managed the Cardinals:

Walter Alston

If general manager Branch Rickey hadn’t left St. Louis to join the Dodgers after the 1942 season, Alston eventually may have become Cardinals manager.

Instead, Rickey lured Alston from the Cardinals to the Dodgers. In 23 years as Dodgers manager, Alston had 2,040 wins, four World Series titles and seven National League pennants from 1954-76.

Signed to a Cardinals contract by Frank Rickey, Branch’s brother, after he was graduated from Miami (Ohio) University, Alston played in the Cardinals’ farm system from 1935-44. He was a Cardinals minor-league player and manager at Class C Portsmouth (Ohio) in 1940 and at Class C Springfield (Ohio) in 1941 and 1942.

In the only major-league game in which he played, for the Cardinals against the Cubs in the season finale on Sept. 27, 1936, at St. Louis, Alston struck out against Lon Warneke in his lone at-bat and made an error in two fielding chances as a replacement for Johnny Mize at first base. Boxscore

In a 1965 interview with the Associated Press, Alston said of Branch Rickey, “I always will be grateful for the second chance he gave me (to become a manager).”

Leo Durocher

After firing general manager Bing Devine in August 1964, the Cardinals planned to hire Durocher as their manager after the season. Instead, the Cardinals rallied to win the pennant and the World Series crown. When manager Johnny Keane resigned to join the Yankees, the Cardinals, looking for a popular replacement, changed course and hired Schoendienst rather than Durocher.

Durocher was the Cardinals’ shortstop from 1933-37. He started for the World Series champions in 1934. He was an all-star in 1936. He led National League shortstops in fielding percentage in 1933 and 1936.

In 24 years as a manager with the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs and Astros, Durocher had 2,008 wins, three pennants and a World Series championship.

Whitey Herzog

As Cardinals manager, Herzog won a World Series title and three pennants, reviving a franchise that had gone without a postseason appearance throughout the 1970s. Herzog had a record of 822-728 in 11 years with the Cardinals. He had 1,281 wins overall in 18 years as manager with the Rangers, Angels, Royals and Cardinals.

Miller Huggins

Like Torre, Huggins played for and managed the Cardinals, but earned his Hall of Fame credentials for his work with the Yankees.

Huggins was a Cardinals second baseman from 1910-16 and was their manager from 1913-17. He had a .402 on-base percentage and .270 batting average as a Cardinals player. He led the National League in on-base percentage at .432 in 1913.

His best season as Cardinals manager was 1917 when St. Louis finished in third place at 82-70. In five seasons as Cardinals manager, he was 346-415.

Huggins was the Yankees manager when Babe Ruth joined the team. He won three World Series crowns and six pennants with the Yankees. He was their manager when the Cardinals beat them in the 1926 World Series and when they beat the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series.

In 17 seasons as a big-league manager, Huggins had 1,413 wins, 1,067 with the Yankees.

Tony La Russa

His 1,408 wins with the Cardinals are the most by any manager in the franchise’s history. In 16 seasons with the Cardinals, La Russa earned two World Series titles, three pennants and nine postseason berths.

La Russa ranks third all-time in wins (2,728) among big-league managers. In 33 years managing the White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals, La Russa won three World Series crowns and six pennants.

John McGraw

In 33 years managing the Orioles and Giants, McGraw had 2,763 wins. Only Connie Mack had more. McGraw won three World Series championships and 10 pennants with the Giants.

He played in 99 games as a third baseman for the 1900 Cardinals and led the National League that season in on-base percentage at .505. He also batted .344.

Bill McKechnie

In 1928, his first season as Cardinals manager, McKechnie won a pennant. He managed the Cardinals for part of the 1929 season before resigning and joining the Braves. In 25 years as manager with the Pirates, Cardinals, Braves and Reds, McKechnie had 1,896 wins, two World Series titles (with the 1925 Pirates and 1940 Reds) and four pennants.

Wilbert Robinson

Robinson won two pennants with the Dodgers, also known then as the Robins, and had 1,399 wins in 19 years as manager of the Orioles and Dodgers.

He was a backup catcher for the 1900 Cardinals, batting .248 in 60 games.

Billy Southworth

Like La Russa, Southworth won two World Series championships and three pennants as Cardinals manager. Southworth achieved the feat in three consecutive years (1942-44). He also won a pennant with the Braves. In 13 years as a manager with the Cardinals and Braves, Southworth had 1,044 wins.

In an interview for the 2008 Hall of Fame yearbook, Whitey Herzog said he was a boyhood fan of Southworth. “He was kind of my idol in high school,” Herzog said.

He was a Cardinals outfielder in 1926, 1927 and 1929, compiling a .305 batting average. Southworth hit a three-run home run off Yankees starter Urban Shocker, helping the Cardinals to a Game 2 victory in the 1926 World Series. Boxscore

Joe Torre

A case could be made that Torre qualifies for the Hall of Fame as a player. In 18 seasons with the Braves, Cardinals and Mets, Torre hit .297 with 2,342 hits and 1,185 RBI.

He played third base, first base and catcher for the Cardinals from 1969-74 and batted a collective .308 with 1,062 hits. He earned the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player Award when he led the league in batting average (.363), hits (239) and RBI (137).

In 29 years as a manager with the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees and Dodgers, Torre had 2,326 wins (fifth all-time) and won four World Series titles and six pennants (all with the Yankees). He was 351-354 in six seasons as Cardinals manager.

Previously: Great debate: When Tony La Russa first batted the pitcher eighth

Previously: Cardinals boosted managing career of Sparky Anderson

Previously: 1956 Cardinals groomed nine managers

Previously: Mike Matheny, Eddie Dyer share rare rookie achievement

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Why the best Joe Torre Cardinals club was not good enough

Posted in Games, Managers on July 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Performing in an era when two, not five, teams qualified for the postseason from the National League, the best Cardinals club produced by manager Joe Torre wasn’t a September contender, even though its record was similar to, or better than, future St. Louis champions.

On July 27, 2014, Torre and Tony La Russa, who had the most wins of any Cardinals manager, were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Torre primarily was elected for managing the Yankees to four World Series crowns and six American League pennants.

Torre was 351-354 as Cardinals manager from August 1990 until June 1995. His best St. Louis team, the 1993 Cardinals, had an 87-75 record but finished third in the National League East Division, 10 games behind the champion Phillies and seven behind the second-place Expos.

Since 2012, the National League qualifies three division champions and two wild-card teams for the postseason. In 1993, only the champions of the East and West divisions advanced.

The 1993 Cardinals had the fifth-best record in the National League. Their 87 wins were one fewer than those posted by the 1996 Cardinals (who were Central Division champions) and the 2012 Cardinals (who qualified for the postseason as a wild-card with the fifth-best record in the league). The 1993 Cardinals had four more wins than the 2006 Cardinals, who were Central Division champions and proceeded to win the World Series title.

Jefferies delivers

First baseman Gregg Jefferies led a 1993 Cardinals lineup that ranked fourth in the National League in runs scored (758) and batted a collective .272, eight percentage points better than the league average. Jefferies batted .342 with 16 home runs, 83 RBI, 46 stolen bases and a .408 on-base percentage.

Joining Jefferies among the top producers were third baseman Todd Zeile (17 home runs, 103 RBI), right fielder Mark Whiten (25 home runs, 99 RBI), left fielder Bernard Gilkey (40 doubles, 16 home runs) and shortstop Ozzie Smith (.288 batting average, 21 stolen bases).

The pitching staff featured closer Lee Smith (43 saves despite a 4.50 ERA) and three starters with winning records and double-figure wins: Bob Tewksbury (17 wins), Rene Arocha (11) and Donovan Osborne (10). But the staff was neither deep nor dominant and it produced a team ERA of 4.09, five percentage points above the league average.

A 20-7 June record put the Cardinals at 45-31 overall. After beating the Braves on July 19, the Cardinals were a season-high 18 wins over .500 at 55-37 and in second place, three games behind the Phillies and 6.5 ahead of the third-place Expos.

One month later, on Aug. 19, the Cardinals were holding steady, 17 wins above .500 at 69-52 and still in second place, but had lost ground to the Phillies, who were eight games ahead of them in the East.

Good group

As late as Sept. 19, the Cardinals were 15 wins above .500 at 82-67, but the Expos had moved past them and into second place. The Cardinals trailed the Expos by four games and the Phillies by eight.

“We have a good group,” Torre told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sept. 19. “There’s a lot more offense out there than we’ve had for a while. We thought our pitching would carry us, and it did for a while, but we’re a much better team offensively than we thought at the beginning of the season.”

St. Louis lost eight of its next 11, dashing any hopes of a postseason berth.

The Phillies won the division title at 97-65. The second-place Expos were 94-68.

“You’re happy it’s over because finishing third, when you thought you had a chance for more, it’s frustrating,” Torre said after the season finale.

Said Ozzie Smith: “We competed for a long time, but then we just sort of fell out. That’s the disappointing part.”

Energy drain

In an analysis of the Cardinals’ 1993 season, Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “The season must be classified as a disappointment to everyone concerned. A team that should have contended didn’t contend long enough. And a team that most certainly should have finished second didn’t seem to care about that.”

Hummel gave Torre a grade of C-plus for his managing in 1993. “Torre thought he had a team that would be in it until the last few days, at the least … Try as he might, Torre couldn’t infuse enough energy into this team late in the season,” Hummel wrote.

In his three full seasons as Cardinals manager (1991-93), Torre’s teams had winning records. The 1991 Cardinals finished second in the East Division, but 14 games behind the Pirates. Here is a breakdown of Torre’s year-by-year records with the Cardinals:

_ 1990: 24-34. (Hired in August by general manager Dal Maxvill).

_ 1991: 84-78.

_ 1992: 83-79.

_ 1993: 87-75.

_ 1994: 53-61. (Players’ strike halted season in August).

_ 1995: 20-27. (Fired in June by general manager Walt Jocketty).

Previously: Ted Simmons helped put pal Joe Torre on path to Hall

Previously: George Kissell, Cardinals inspired Joe Torre to be manager

Previously: Cardinals, Hall of Fame link Tony La Russa, Joe Torre

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The story of how Tony La Russa got his 1st Cardinals win

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on July 21, 2014| 2 Comments »

Dennis Eckersley and Jason Isringhausen, the closers who contributed the most to helping Tony La Russa earn election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, also played prominent roles in his first win as Cardinals manager.

The Cardinals beat the Mets, 5-3, in New York on April 3, 1996, in La Russa’s second game as Cardinals manager. Eckersley earned a tension-filled four-out save. Isringhausen was the opposing starter, facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career.

The win was the first of a franchise-record 1,408 for La Russa in 16 years as Cardinals manager.

After successful stints managing the White Sox and Athletics, La Russa secured his Hall of Fame status with his Cardinals career. He joined another Hall of Famer, Billy Southworth, as the only managers to win two World Series titles with the Cardinals. On July 27, 2014, La Russa and another former Cardinals manager, Joe Torre, were inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y.

Converted starters

At Oakland, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan converted a reluctant Eckersley from a starter into a closer. The move transformed Eckersley into a Hall of Fame pitcher. He earned 386 of his 390 saves with La Russa as manager _ 320 in nine years with the Athletics and 66 in two years with the Cardinals.

Isringhausen, who also successfully converted from starter to closer, joined the Cardinals in 2002. Pitching for La Russa and Duncan, Isringhausen compiled a franchise-record 217 saves in seven seasons with the Cardinals and finished his big-league career with 300 saves.

After La Russa left the Athletics to become manager of the 1996 Cardinals, Eckersley was acquired in a trade for pitcher Steve Montgomery and, at 41, became the St. Louis closer.

On April 1, 1996, in La Russa’s debut as Cardinals manager, the Mets overcame a four-run deficit and won, 7-6. Eckersley didn’t appear in that game. Boxscore

Seeking a win

Isringhausen, 23, got the start for the Mets in the season’s second game. He was 9-2 as a Mets rookie in 1995. A native of Brighton, Ill., near St. Louis, Isringhausen acknowledged that facing the Cardinals was special. “I had more butterflies (than usual),” Isringhausen said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Isringhausen pitched six innings, yielding three runs to the Cardinals. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter, with the Cardinals leading, 3-0. Bernard Gilkey, a former Cardinal, clubbed a three-run home run off starter Todd Stottlemyre in the bottom of the sixth, tying the score at 3-3.

The Cardinals scored a run in the seventh off Robert Person and another run in the eighth against Jerry DiPoto, taking a 5-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Mets had runners on first and second with two outs when La Russa replaced Stottlemyre with Eckersley.

“No matter how much experience you have, you’re a little uptight when you come into the game,” Eckersley said to the Post-Dispatch. “I felt very uncomfortable, like I’d never been in a game before.”

Solid swing

The first batter Eckersley faced in his Cardinals debut was Butch Huskey, the Mets’ cleanup batter.

With the count 1-and-2, Eckersley threw a fastball. Huskey swung and launched a drive toward center field. He knew he had made solid contact. “I thought it had a chance to go (over the wall),” Huskey said to the New York Daily News.

Center fielder Ray Lankford raced toward the wall while tracking the path of the ball. “I thought I could tell by the look on (Lankford’s) face that he was going to catch it,” Eckersley said.

The ball carried farther than Eckersley thought. As Lankford neared the 396-foot sign, he leaped, extended his glove and caught the ball, ending the inning and preserving the lead.

“Most definitely, I was robbed,” Huskey told the Post-Dispatch. “The ball jumped off my bat. I thought it was going out.”

In the bottom of the ninth, with the Cardinals still ahead by two, Eckersley retired the first two batters before Jose Vizcaino and Kevin Roberson each singled. Edgardo Alfonzo was up next, representing the potential winning run. Eckersley struck him out, earning his first National League save and preserving La Russa’s first National League win.

“In this league, it’s hard to get a hit or a save or a win,” La Russa said. “I don’t think there are any ugly ones.” Boxscore

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Whitey Herzog: Don Zimmer did best managing I ever saw

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents on June 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

In 14 seasons as a big-league manager, Don Zimmer was at his best in 1989. He won a division title with the Cubs and earned the admiration of his Cardinals counterpart, Whitey Herzog.

In his book “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said, “The best year of managing I ever saw was Don Zimmer with the Cubs in 1989. Zim’s a great baseball man. For that one year, he could do no wrong. He tried everything _ and everything he tried worked. He called the hit-and-run, he ran squeezes, he pitched out, he ran double steals. He pitched guys on two, three days of rest … People say, ‘Don’t you think he was just lucky?’ It’s like I always say: It’s amazing how lucky you are when you’re good.”

Cardinals-Cubs showdown

Zimmer’s best effort that season may have occurred during a pivotal three-game series between the Cardinals and Cubs in early September at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

After erasing a 7-2 deficit and winning, 11-8, in the series opener on Sept. 8, the Cardinals moved to within a half-game of the first-place Cubs in the National League East. A win over the Cubs the next day would put the Cardinals in first place for the first time since May 12.

The momentum appeared to be with the Cardinals when they took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning of the second game of the series on Sept. 9. Then, the game _ as well as the Cardinals’ season _ turned on what transpired in that inning.

In the top half, the Cardinals, with runners on first and second and one out, looked poised to build their lead. Terry Pendleton, a switch-hitter, was the batter. In 1989, Pendleton hit 25 points higher against left-handed pitchers than he did versus right-handers. Still, Zimmer lifted right-hander Les Lancaster and brought in Steve Wilson, a left-hander, to face Pendleton.

Pendleton popped out to second base.

Next up for the Cardinals was right-handed slugger Tom Brunansky. Zimmer pulled Wilson for Jeff Pico, a right-handed reliever.

Brunansky struck out, ending the threat.

Against all odds

In the Cubs’ half of the inning, they got a runner to third base with two outs. A right-handed batter, Luis Salazar was at the plate. The Cardinals pitcher was Dan Quisenberry, a right-hander. Herzog figured Zimmer would send a left-handed batter to pinch hit for Salazar. Herzog was prepared to counter with a left-handed reliever, Ken Dayley.

“He (Zimmer) has got to take a shot. He’s got to force me to make a move and get Dayley in the game,” Herzog said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Instead, Zimmer stuck with Salazar.

Said Zimmer: “I called him down and said, ‘Have you ever faced Quisenberry before?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve had good luck with him.’ I took his word for it. You don’t know. I’ll probably look it up and find out he’d never even faced him before.”

Salazar rewarded Zimmer’s confidence by singling to left, driving in the runner, Dwight Smith, from third and tying the score at 2-2.

Said Herzog: “Quiz threw a terrible pitch.”

(Salazar was 3-for-8 in his career versus Quisenberry. He was 1-for-5 against him in 1985 and 2-for-3 in 1989.)

In the 10th, Salazar doubled off Dayley, scoring Andre Dawson from first and giving the Cubs a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

“Yes, Zimmer can manage,” wrote Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz. “… He used four relief pitchers and the parade limited the Cardinals to one hit in three innings. Zimmer inserted Luis Salazar at third base in the late innings and Salazar drove in the tying and winning runs.”

Said Zimmer: “This was almost like a World Series and October atmosphere.”

What the heck

Instead of moving into first, the Cardinals dropped 1.5 games behind the Cubs.

In the series finale the next day, Sept. 10, right-hander Greg Maddux was scheduled to start for the Cubs. That morning, Zimmer decided instead to start Wilson, even though the left-hander had pitched in relief the previous day. Maddux was 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA in two starts versus the 1989 Cardinals. Zimmer informed Maddux he would start the following day against the Expos.

Said Zimmer: “I looked at the pitching chart and I said, ‘I know Greg Maddux pitches better against Montreal than St. Louis.’ I feel like a left-hander has a little better chance against St. Louis anyway. I said, ‘The heck with it’ and I changed it around.”

Wilson struck out 10 in five innings and limited the Cardinals to a run. Three relievers combined to hold the Cardinals scoreless, striking out eight. The Cubs won, 4-1. Boxscore

Zimmer used seven relievers in the final two games of the series and they didn’t allow a run.

Reeling, the Cardinals lost their next four in a row and slipped out of contention. They finished in third place. The Cubs won the division title, finishing six games ahead of the runner-up Mets.

Zimmer received the 1989 National League Manager of the Year Award.

Previously: Cardinals go 23 years between 2 straight shutouts of Cubs

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